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The 2026 Cincinnati Reds' season was a stark reminder that the roster requires significant upgrades. The team ended the year at the bottom of the National League Central, finishing twelve games below .500. As things stand, the Reds are far from postseason contention and even further from reaching the World Series with their current personnel.
Meanwhile, the 2026 World Series features the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, two of baseball's elite teams and rosters. The Reds can draw valuable lessons from both franchises about how they assembled their teams.
Making the Right Trades
Most of each World Series team consists of players acquired via trades, with the Brewers having 15 and the Rays having 17, making up the majority of their World Series rosters. The Rays completed five of those trades in 2026, including acquiring Tyler Wells, Liam Hicks, and Freddy Peralta at the August trade deadline. The Brewers made a bold move by acquiring pitchers Dustin May and Jojo Romero from the Cardinals at the deadline. The takeaway is that both the Rays and Brewers were aggressive in improving their rosters and made sound deals for their franchises.
The Brewers have the vast majority of their bullpen from trades. Milwaukee has Trevor Megill, Chad Patrick, and Jojo Romero as key pieces of their bullpen, all of whom were acquired via trades. These additions complement the other stud relievers of Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, and DL Hall. This is where the Reds can learn a lesson. The construction of a strong bullpen is key to a long playoff run, and the Reds will have to do better with their decisions in 2027. Both teams have made aggressive and smart trades, while being bold enough to go for additions that would improve their teams, especially when they are close to being a championship contender.
Don't Need Power Hitters
One aspect that the Cincinnati Reds improved in 2026 was their home run hitting. The Reds were fourth in MLB with 213 home runs in the regular season. But the Reds were also one of the worst offenses in all of baseball. So hitting home runs does not mean a good offense. The Rays and Brewers are a good example of this. The Brewers were 29th in home runs in 2026 (154), and the Rays were 22nd with 169 home runs. But the Brewers and Rays were first and second, respectively, in batting average, while the Reds were the worst in baseball. This proves that offense is more than just hitting long balls, and the Rays and Brewers were the best at putting the ball in play. If the Reds are going to be competitive, they will need to improve by adding guys who will hit for average and not strike out as much.
The Reds can take a lot of lessons from the two teams that are in the World Series, let's just hope that the Front Office is taking notes.
Follow me on X at @RedHotRedsPod Roger is originally from Chicago and moved to Ohio in the 2010s. Now residing in Hamilton Ohio with his wife, kids and dog. He likes to spend all of his free time watching and covering the Cincinnati Reds. He is one of the hosts of Red Hot Reds Podcast. He follows and covers every level of the Reds organization.